les carnets de clarisse

Une sélection d’articles lus en ligne – semaine du 21 au 27 septembre.

TERRORISME

• un dossier de la Revue de l’OTAN
Terrorists and organised crime: just business?
Terrorists and organised crime groups are working together on a daily basis. In counterfeiting, drugs, arms, and cyber and financial crime. The difference between these groups is increasingly blurred. They often share techniques, personnel, skills and money making activities. NATO Review talks to some key experts about how this happened and where it is leading.

• Australie
9 ans de prison pour avoir écrit un manuel du terrorisme
Un ancien employé de la compagnie australienne Qantas a été condamné vendredi à neuf ans de prison pour avoir rédigé un manuel expliquant comment fabriquer une bombe ou détruire des avions, a-t-on appris de source judiciaire.

• Somalie
Suicide bomber in Somalia lived in U.S.
An online report has identified a Somali-American from Seattle, Washington, as one of the suicide bombers who killed 21 peacekeepers in Mogadishu, Somalia, last week.

• USA
Dallas – Online chats led to Texas terror suspect’s arrest
A terror suspect accused of plotting the bombing of a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, drew authorities’ scrutiny because of his violent posts on an extremist chat site, court papers indicate.
A 19-year-old Jordanian bent on committing « violent jihad»  was arrested Thursday after undercover FBI agents foiled his attempt to bomb an office tower in Dallas, Texas, authorities announced late Thursday.
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Springfield, Illinois – Sting catches alleged terrorist in plot to blow up courthouse
A would-be terrorist was arrested in Springfield, Illinois, for allegedly attempting to detonate a truck bomb to blow up a federal building and kill its occupants, officials said Thursday. Authorities were waiting Wednesday for Michael Finton, also known as Talib Islam, who unwittingly had been dealing with undercover FBI agents continually monitoring his activities.
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New York – How the Zazi Terror Probe Could Help U.S. Intel
If Najibullah Zazi is everything the FBI says he is, then the Afghan-born Denver airport-shuttle-bus driver represents a new kind of menace for the U.S. His arrest is a double blessing: it may have thwarted a terrorism plot, and it could give counterterrorism officials a goldmine of information on al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the state of the global jihad.
The Beauty Parlor Bomb Plan; Massive Terror Plot Alleged
ABC News has identified the hotel where accused al Qaeda bomb maker Najibullah Zazi apparently experimented with store-bought chemicals and a bomb-making recipe as the Homestead Studio Suites Hotel in Aurora, Colo.
FBI: Notes on bomb-making in Zazi’s handwriting
Investigators said they found notes describing how to make bombs in the handwriting of an airport shuttle driver arrested as part of a terrorism investigation, and they also discovered his fingerprints on materials — batteries and a scale — that could be used to make explosives.

Quantico, Virginia – Terror suspect allegedly planned to attack Marine base
A North Carolina man accused of plotting to wage holy war overseas also planned to attack the U.S. Marine base at Quantico, Virginia, according to new charges announced Thursday.

• Inde
India prepares for Maoist assault
The Indian Home Minister, P Chidambaram, says the government will extend « every support»  to states battling left-wing Maoist extremism.

Shed mindset of using terror as state policy: Manmohan to Pak
Ahead of Indo-Pak Foreign Ministers meeting in New York, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday that India seeks to normalise relationship with Pakistan but it should shed its mindset of using terror as an instrument of state policy against New Delhi and take action against those involved in the Mumbai terror attacks.

• Pakistan
Pakistan opens new terror camps after Mumbai assault
Ten new terror training camps have been opened inside Pakistan since the November 2008 terror assault in Mumbai, India, which was launched from Pakistani soil.

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NUCLÉAIRE

• Iran
Une histoire d’espions qui soulève bien des questions
Le nouveau rebondissement dans la crise nucléaire iranienne est l’aboutissement d’années de coopération entre les services de renseignement américains, britanniques et français qui, comme toutes les histoires d’espions, soulèvent d’innombrables questions.
Pékin demande à Téhéran de coopérer à l’enquête
La Chine a demandé à l’Iran de coopérer à toute enquête de l’Agence internationale à l’énergie atomique (AIEA) sur son deuxième site nucléaire, révélé vendredi, a déclaré le porte-parole du gouvernement chinois, Ma Zhao Xu.

• Inde
India and Mongolia: Beyond uranium diplomacy
In terms of location, few countries are as strategic as Mongolia. And fewer share so much spiritual heritage with India. Above all Mongolia is critical for a rising India’s Asian strategy.

India: Deterrence and explosive yield
Following the controversy on the success or otherwise of the thermonuclear test of India on 11th May 1998 questions have been raised by some senior ex-service officers and civilian strategists on the credibility of the Indian deterrent posture and the perceived mismatch between a 3,500-km missile and a warhead of two digit explosive yield.

• Brésil
VP Says Nukes Would Make Brazil a Bigger Global Player
Brazilian Vice President Jose Alencar says possession of nuclear weapons would enable his country to deter potential aggressors and give the giant South American nation greater “respectability” on the world stage, O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper reported on Friday.

• USA
French President Sarkozy Blasts President Obama’s stance on nuclear disarmament. U.S. Media refuses to report it.
One of my favorite features of the Newseum in Washington, DC is the daily display of newspaper front pages from around the world. Today, Canada’s National Post was a standout with Alex Spillius’ coverage of a clash between Presidents Obama and Sarkozy.

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CRIME ORGANISÉ

• Colombie
$3.4 million in a container shipped from Mexico
Colombian police on Wednesday found $3.4 million in a container shipped from Mexico at the southwestern port of Buenaventura, bringing to three the total number of seizures of huge amounts of cash – now $25.8 million in all – in the past eight days in cargo inspections there, officials said.

$24 Million in Seized Drug Money Stolen in Colombia
Some $24 million in drug-trafficking proceeds that was found hidden in two containers of ammonium nitrate has been stolen from Colombia’s Caribbean port of Cartagena, police said Friday.

Nephew of Colombia Rebel Chief Found Dead
A nephew of senior FARC rebel commander Jorge Briceño Suarez, alias “Mono Jojoy,” was found buried along with 15 other guerrillas who were killed in a government airstrike, Colombia’s armed forces chief said Friday.

• France
Fraude à la CB: Pêche miraculeuse pour la police Française
La police Française vient de faire l’un de ses plus gros coups, dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi, concernant la lutte contre la fraude à la carte bancaire. Trois groupes de pirates informatiques ont été arrêtés à Saint-Pol-sur-mer, Béthune et Calais.

• Italie
Mafia boss used crocodile to extort money
Antonio Cristofaro kept the 40-kilogram (88-pound) reptile on a terrace of his home near Naples and fed it live rats and rabbits, according to LAV, an Italian animal rights group.

Shipwreck may hold radioactive waste sunk by mafia off Italian coast
Italian ministers and officials were today holding urgent consultations following the discovery of an unmarked wreck that prosecutors believe was used by the mafia to sink radioactive waste.
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‘Two bodies’ on mafia waste ship
Investigators in Italy examining a shipwreck containing possible radioactive waste say they may have found two bodies on board. An underwater camera also showed pictures of orange barrels, with the word « toxic»  on their side.

• Mexique
Mexican smugglers use Pacific as new route
Mexican smugglers trying to find new routes into the United States are turning increasingly to the Pacific Ocean for a short sail to the California coast, where they drop off illegal immigrants and marijuana, U.S. officials say.
FBI Says Corrupt Border Officials Accepting Bribes Expose U.S. to Terrorist Risk
The Federal Bureau of Investigation worries that corrupt U.S. officials at the nation’s border crossings are exposing Americans to serious risk, and are stepping up efforts to root those officials out.
Mexico nabs leader of brutal kidnapping ring
The Mexican Federal Police on Wednesday announced the arrest of the founder and leader of a kidnapping ring involved in 22 abductions, eight of them resulting in death. The intelligence chief of the Public Safety Department, Luis Cardenas Palomino, said at a press conference that with the arrest of Abel Silva Petriciolet, the gang had been « completely broken up.» 

• Pérou
Peru seizes 4.5 tons of cocaine bound for Spain
Peruvian police seized some 4.5 tons of cocaine that apparently was to be sent to Spain hidden in a shipment of canned artichokes, the daily La Republica reported Wednesday.

• USA
Twitter as an Intelligence Tool
The NYPD now does monitor Twitter and cross-walks anomalous events against Twitter plotted on Trends.

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RENSEIGNEMENT

Les États-Unis dépensent 75 MDS USD par an pour le renseignement
Dennis Blair, directeur du Renseignement national, a indiqué aux journalistes lorsqu’il a présenté sa stratégie du renseignement national de 2009 que les activités de renseignement du gouvernement et les coûts militaires nécessitent un total de 75 MDS USD par an, ce qui occupe plus de 10% des 650 MDS USD du budget annuel de la Défense américaine.

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ESPACE

La Chine envisage une base spatiale habitée 100% chinoise d’ici à 2020
Une base spatiale habitée 100% chinoise d’ici une décennie, c’est l’objectif que se fixe la Chine. Wang Yongzhi, l’ingénieur en chef du programme spatial habité chinois, a révélé lundi 21 septembre lors d’une conférence de presse que le projet d’application relatif à la création d’une station spatiale habitée chinoise était en cours d’examen.

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AFGHANISTAN

Taliban suspected of stockpiling ‘missing’ Afghan opium
Enough Afghan opium to supply world demand for two years has effectively gone missing, with the Taliban suspected of stockpiling supplies in a bid to corner the market, the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has revealed.

Taliban stronger than ever: Hakimullah’s spokesman
Qari Hussain Mehsud, known for training Taliban suicide bombers, met with an AP reporter Thursday at a secret location in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border, just hours before a US missile strike hit the tribal region and killed 12 people. He has been appointed the latest spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban’s new chief, Hakimullah Mehsud.

Investigators to identify ‘militants’ killed in drone strike
‘We believe that all the 10 men killed in the strike were Afghans as the compound belonged to the Haqqani network.
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Afghanistan: Washington pourrait envoyer jusqu’à 40 000 soldats en plus
Les États-Unis, qui réexaminent leur stratégie en Afghanistan, pourraient décider d’envoyer jusqu’à 40 000 soldats supplémentaires, a indiqué le sénateur républicain John McCain dimanche, alors que le plus haut gradé américain sur le terrain juge que l’insurrection continue de s’étendre.

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FRANCE

Paris annonce la création d’une Fondation sur la guerre d’Algérie
Paris a annoncé vendredi la création d’une Fondation pour la mémoire de la guerre d’Algérie, projet inscrit dans une loi de 2005 mais resté lettre morte en raison des tensions soulevées avec Alger par un article, abrogé depuis, sur le « rôle positif»  de la colonisation.

L’armée française se referme sur elle-même
Les liens entre l’armée et la réserve sont en train se de se déliter. C’est l’avis d’un certain nombre de spécialistes qui considèrent que la professionnalisation de l’armée a été un facteur déterminant dans cette évolution pour le moins négative.

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PAKISTAN

Begging with dignity
In our sixty-second year, perhaps it’s time we came to terms with the reality that we are and have always been a nation of beggars. Ironically, it is only in embracing this grim reality that we can find the opportunity to change our future.

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DIVERS

Famed Brazilian Centenarian Released from Intensive Care
Acclaimed 101-year-old Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer was released from intensive care Saturday at a hospital in this metropolis, where earlier this week he underwent successful gallstone surgery, doctors said.

Spanish Pianist Alicia De Larrocha Dies at 86
Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha died in Barcelona after a long cardiorespiratory illness, officials at the Quiron Hospital where she had been admitted told Efe. She was 86.

Deux Suisses déclinent les 99 noms d’Allah en Iran
Bien connus sur la scène du graphisme helvétique et international, Sabina Oberholzer et Renato Tagli se voient récompensés à Téhéran pour une affiche évoquant les 99 noms que l’islam donne au Dieu unique. Sans arrière-pensée politique, ni vraiment religieuse.

Nestle milk link to Grace Mugabe
The Swiss multinational Nestle is buying milk from a farm seized from its white owners and now owned by the wife of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe.

Young Americans Going To China For Jobs
When the best job Mikala Reasbeck could find after college in Boston was counting pills part-time in a drugstore for $7 an hour, she took the drastic step of jumping on a plane to Beijing in February to look for work.

Venezuela summit criticises West
The leaders of Libya and Venezuela have called on Africa and South America to create a new alliance to counter Western dominance. Col Gaddafi proposed a defence alliance of South American and African nations, calling it « a Nato of the South» .